What If?
by AceForeverAndAlways
Summary: What if Jack and Nathan met before both ended up in Eureka? Here's my take. SLASH!


**AN:** I don't own Eureka or any characters or any recognizable plot. Happy reading!

"Have you met the new director of GD yet?" Jack asked as he kept pace with Allison's quick pace.

"Not yet. He just arrived, hence our visit. You need approval from the Director of Research to use of the biomolecular scanner on Susan Perkins," Allison replied as they walked through the door. "Nathan?" Allison's surprise evident.

Jack perked up at the name, "Nathan?" he asked in recognition.

"Allie? Jack?" Nathan was speechless as the sight of the two. "Jack what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Jack replied.

"You two know each other?" Allison asked.

"About that…" Nathan started, trying to signal to Jack not to say anything, but it was too late.

"He's my partner." Jack informed her. "Wait, how do you two know each other?"

"He's my husband." Allison intoned.

Jack glared at his partner, "You told me you were divorced."

"No, I said we were separated," Nathan defended himself. Jack on the other hand continued to glare and crossed his arms over his chest. "Jack…" Nathan said softly, taking a step closer to his lover to touch him. Jack stepped back and Nathan let his arm drop to his side and hurt flash across his face. Meanwhile, Allison stood there unsure what to think about the situation, let alone say about it.

"You and I will talk about this" Jack said gesturing wildly around, "later." Nathan nodded somberly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, shocking Allison to the core. He rarely apologized to her, when they got in one of their many fights.

"I know," Jack said, his stance and tone of voice softening slightly.

"Ahem," Allison said, interrupting finally. "You and I will talk later, as well. Come to think of it, all three of us will need to talk. However, we had a reason for coming here. We need to borrow the biomolecular scanner,"

"Alight, I'll ensure that it is free. How about we all have dinner tomorrow night?" Nathan proposed.

"Fine, let's go Carter," Allison said, dragging Jack behind her. Nathan slumped in his chair when he was finally alone, and contemplated the mess he just made of his life. _What are the chances that my lover and my wife end up in the same small town?_

 **After Nathan collapses**

"Nathan!" Jack nearly shouted as he ran into the infirmary. He forgot that he was mad at his lover in his worry. Allison was standing next to Nathan's bed. "Are you alright?" he questioned, all while looking his lover up and down for any visible signs of damage, settling for placing his hand on Nathan's.

"He had an electrolyte imbalance." Allison replies dryly, not sure how to feel about the small display of affection between her husband and his lover.

"Do you know what caused it?" Jack asked, concern still evident in his voice. He saw Nathan smirk and open his mouth, most likely to give a snarky comment, but Jack squeezed his hand and gave him a look, that promptly shut him up.

"Excuse me. Is this a bad time?" Henry asked from the doorway. "Allison, Susan Perkins is looking for you." Allison left behind Henry and Jack moved to follow, but the hand in his stopped him.

"Jack, can I talk to you?" Nathan asked.

"Of course," Jack replies, eyes locked on Nathan's chest as he buttons up his shirt. Even though Jack thinks that Nathan should stay in bed, he knows better than to argue with his lover about getting back to work.

"I saw a figure in my office before I collapsed," Nathan admits.

"Someone was in your office?" Jack's concern growing.

"Not someone, something." Nathan corrects. "The figure was not entirely corporeal,"

Jack raised an eyebrow at Nathan's choice of words, "You saw a ghost? The big bad scientist saw a ghost?" Jack teased lightly. Nathan scowled for a moment before rolling his eyes. "I'll check it out," Jack couldn't resist and gave Nathan a chaste kiss, before heading for the door.

"Thanks Jack" Nathan said before Jack left, hoping Jack understood. Jack only gave Nathan a small smile before continuing out the door.

 **After saving Walter**

Seeing as Nathan was busy, Allison and Jack stood off to the side chatting, waiting for Nathan to finish up. "Can we talk now?" Nathan asked as he walked up to the other two.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm starving. We could go to Café Diem." Allison suggested.

"No, I want to have this conversation in private, and with Vincent around, there is no privacy," Nathan said.

Jack sighed, "Follow me," he said getting into his Jeep and heading off to the bunker.

"What is this place?" Allison asked as they walked into the bunker.

"Hello Sheriff, Doctor Blake, Doctor Stark," SARAH greeted.

"How do you even know about this place?" Nathan questioned, looking around amazed.

"Fargo," Jack said like it explained everything, and it did.

"SARAH? Do you still have dinner ready?"

"Yes Sheriff" came Fargo's feminized voice as food appeared on the counter in the kitchen. The three adults prepared plates of food before heading to the table. "Thank you SARAH," Jack said.

"You're welcome, Sheriff,"

All three sat at the table and ate in awkward silence for a while before Allison got up the courage to break it. "So, I never did find out how you two met," she prompted.

"Well, I was in L.A. with my cousin Tony, I spent some time working with him at the family company," Nathan said.

"And some of my buddies and I just finished up a big bust and we got 2 weeks off as a reward. They wanted to go out and celebrate, and dragged me out with them,"

"We both happened to be at the same bar, which neither of us were really into being at," Nathan continued.

 _Flashback_

 _Jack watched from his corner seat as his friends continued to drink and dance with other patrons. Jack nursed the same beer that he got when he first arrived. He was dead tired and ready to leave, but he knew his buddies would never let him leave yet. Plus, if he stuck it out now, he could hole up in his apartment for the two weeks they had off and go see Zoe when she got out of school._

 _"Not your scene either, I take it?" A deep voice said to his right. The man was the stereotypical tall, dark, and handsome._

 _"Nah, I prefer to drink while watching a baseball game in the quiet of my own home," Jack told the man._

 _"I prefer hockey or basketball myself. But I understand wanting peace, I prefer to be at home with a book. I'm Nathan, by the way," the man said taking a seat next to him. "Jack," was the response. The conversation took off from there. The two men talked about everything and nothing for two hours straight with no end in sight. When the final call for drinks came, they didn't want to part. The two men walked out to the street and were reluctant to say good-bye._

 _"Let me at least, give you a ride home," Nathan said, indicating to the car with a driver in front of them._

 _Jack hesitated for a minute, "Okay," he said, allowing Nathan to open the door for him to get in._

 _"I had fun tonight, Jack. That's not something I've done for a while," Nathan admitted._

 _"Me neither," Jack confessed too. Jack finally gave into to the urge to kiss the man, he had wanted to since Nathan first started their conversation. Nathan was obviously interested, indicated by the affectionate touches and flirtatious banter exchanged throughout the night. The kiss was electric and better than any kiss the other had experienced before._

 _"Come to my place with me?" Nathan suggested, after breaking the kiss._

 _This time there was no hesitation, "Yes," Jack breathed. Nathan, in response, gave Jack another quick kiss, and gave the driver new instructions. When they got to the fancy hotel Nathan was staying at, they didn't jump right into bed with each other. They had another drink and continued their conversation from before. It was an hour later, they tumbled into bed, but nothing happened aside from a few kisses, before sleep overcame them._

 _"Jack…wake up," a voice prodded Jack into consciousness, followed by some kisses to his face._

 _"Wha?" Jack mumbled._

 _"Jack, I have to go into the office, do you want to stay here, or do you want me to take you to your car?" Nathan hoped the man would stay._

 _Jack sighed and got up, Nathan handed him a cup of coffee, "Thanks," Jack said before taking a sip. "Can you take me to my car? I'm going to go see Zoe after she gets out of school,"_

 _"Of course," Nathan said, slightly disappointed._

 _Jack caught on, "Could I come back later or could we meet somewhere?" Jack suggested._

 _"I would like that, how about I pick you up around nine tonight? That way you can spend some time with your daughter." Nathan proposed._

 _"Sounds good," Jack said, before gulping down the rest of his coffee. Jack went to take a shower and get dressed while Nathan continued sipping on his own coffee, already ready for the day._

 _"Ready," Jack said after dressing. Both headed out for Nathan's car and got in. They rode in silence, with Jack occasionally giving directions to get to his car. Nathan pulled up next to Jack's car a half hour later, and turned the car off, before turning to Jack. He pulled the unresisting man into a kiss._

 _"Can I get your number? If you need to postpone tonight or cancel, you can let me know," Nathan asked._

 _"Of course," Jack recited his number, before pulling Nathan into a kiss this time and then getting out. "See you later, Scientist," Jack said before shutting the door and Nathan pulled away._

 _End Flashback_

"I was in L.A. for two more months before heading back to Washington and we continued to see each other during that time," Nathan said.

"When he went back, we took turns flying back and forth whenever either of us had some time off," Jack continued.

"Wow, so you two have been together for what, a year?" Allison was amazed. Jack managed to get Nathan to willingly take time off. Nathan only took time off when he was extremely sick or Kevin was sick or had an appointment.

"Almost, our anniversary is next month," Jack said.

"Nathan, if you were with someone, why didn't we finalize our divorce?" Allison asked her husband.

"Because, every time I called to talk to you about it, you avoided the topic and then we ended up in a fight. I had my lawyers draw up divorce papers, if you want to look at them. If there is anything you disagree with, we can talk about it," Nathan said, heading for his briefcase. He handed her a stack of papers for her to look at later. "The only thing I won't negotiate is the part about seeing Kevin. He might as well be my son. I love him, and want to see him as much as possible," Nathan stated firmly.

"Alright, I'll look at these tomorrow, after I get some much needed sleep," Allison said getting up from the table. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Jack got up to see who it was as SARAH opened the door.

"Hi Dad," Zoe said as she breezed through the door and past Jack. "Hi Allison. Nathan?! What are you doing here?" Zoe said, rushing to hug the man. She was grateful that Nathan came into their lives. He calmed down her Dad's controlling tendencies and got her Dad to take more time off from work. Plus he helped her with her homework all the time.

"Thanks Jo," Jack said to his deputy.

"No problem," Jo said before leaving.

"I'm the new director of GD," Nathan said as he let Zoe go.

"Awesome! So, where's my room?"

"Upstairs and to the right" SARAH said.

"Thanks!" Zoe said before rushing upstairs.

"Well, I better go. Thanks for dinner," Allison said before leaving.

Nathan and Jack stood facing each other in the silence of the bunker for a few minutes, until Jack sighed, stepped up to Nathan, wrapped his arms around the taller man's neck and kissed him. Nathan eagerly responded, cherishing the closeness. "You and I need to talk now," Jack said, after breaking the kiss. He led Nathan to the couch. "Why didn't you tell me you were moving here?"

"When I was settled, I was going to drive down to L.A. and surprise you," Nathan said, dragging Jack closer to curl up into Nathan's side. "Why did you tell me you were moving to Portland?"

"I told you I was moving to Oregon. You assumed Portland," Jack replied. They both sat in silence, enjoying each other's company, after some time apart. "You're welcome to stay tonight, if you want," Jack offered.

"I would like that," Nathan responded, nuzzling Jack's neck.

"Go on up, I have to call Abby," Jack said getting up.

Ten minutes later after a stressful phone call, Jack walked into his room, undressed and curled up to Nathan's side. "Goodnight Nathan, love you,"

"Love you too Jack" came the reply, before both fell into a well-deserved rest.


End file.
